Mantra of Trust
by Lady Nephenee Ranulf
Summary: He repeated it endlessly, for it was his mantra. But it had lost its meaning. Yggdrasil had once believed him, but now? Nothing. They had both left. Pregame.


I would like to take the time to disclaim Tales of Symphonia and all of its characters.

* * *

"So you're back!" Yggdrasil exploded happily. It would have sounded just like him had his voice not been marred by the illusion of age he wore. "I'm so glad. You know, Yuan's always missing these days…"

"Really?" Kratos Aurion wasn't surprised to know that. What Yuan did was Yuan's business, and it was a well-known fact that he was often gone on "business", although for whom it was never certain.

"Yes, I'm rather worried about him." Yggdrasil frowned, pacing back and forth. "You don't suppose he's…doing something bad, do you?"

"…I doubt it." Of course, knowing Yuan, it probably was also something "bad"- although the adjective differed as one went from view point to view point.

"You don't suppose he's with the Renegades, do you?" Yggdrasil asked, clearly digging for information.

"…I doubt it." To tell the truth, Kratos knew just as much as anyone else did about the Renegades. If Yuan was keeping his role in it secret, he was doing a damn good job. There had always been a shred of suspicion, though, but Kratos had never acted upon it.

"I wouldn't understand if he was," Yggdrasil continued. "It'd be so painful to know that he'd betray me. He was-_is_ my sister's fiancé. I think that means that he wants her to be happy, right? So he wouldn't leave me, right? He knows that I'm doing what's right, huh Kratos?"

It was painful to know that although this was a man appearing around the age of Kratos, he was speaking in reality to a young boy who still hadn't moved his mannerisms of old over for more appropriate ones.

"Yuan believes what he believes," Kratos said, expertly avoiding answering the question directly. "I cannot speak for what he thinks."

Yggdrasil paused for a moment, clearly mulling over what Kratos had just said. He sighed, and his shoulders drooped. "I see."

Kratos said nothing. It was clear that the conversation had ended. He began walking slowly backwards out of the room.

Suddenly, Yggdrasil whirled around, and Kratos froze in mid-step. He remained rooted to the spot, meeting Yggdrasil's eyes evenly. Their silence stretched for only a few seconds before Yggdrasil spoke:

"Are you going to leave me too Kratos?"

Kratos nearly lost his grip on his nonchalant composure, but quickly regained his bearings. "What makes you think that?" he asked, quirking a brow.

"Yuan's left me." Yggdrasil whispered. "How long until you do as well? Or have you already left, and I'm actually not talking to Kratos Aurion?"

Kratos stared. Was this what Yggdrasil had deduced from his answer? That he had betrayed him?

"Answer me!" Yggdrasil screamed, and one wild hand managed to snag around Kratos's shirt collar and yank him forward. "Answer me, dammit!" He shook Kratos as if to somehow make the man spit the answer out.

The red-head remained unfazed, calmly reaching up and removing Yggdrasil's hand from his collar. "I won't leave," Kratos said.

Yggdrasil looked down, clutching his arm and shaking furiously. "How do I know you're not lying? How do I know that I'm not talking to an imposter?"

"Trust me," Kratos said gently, letting his hand rest on Yggdrasil's shoulder. "Trust me."

"Can I?" Yggdrasil asked, and all of a sudden he wasn't the icy leader of Cruxis but rather Mithos, and Kratos's hand met air as the shoulder it had been resting on dropped several inches. "Tell me the truth, Kratos."

"Trust me." Kratos repeated. It was turning into his mantra. _Trust me._

Mithos still looked hurt. "You know, Yuan told me the same thing."

Kratos froze. "What?"

"He told me I could trust him. He said he wouldn't leave. But look what he's done."

"Are you sure? Are you sure he's left?" Kratos asked, picking his words carefully.

"Your answer- everything in it screamed 'yes'," Mithos said sullenly. "I'm not dumb, you know."

Kratos sighed. "I am telling the truth, Mithos. You can trust me. I hardly know what Yuan is up to myself. You know he would have told me." There he was, playing the card that was their friendship. Irrefutable proof that Mithos could not deny, because even he knew of how close the two were.

Mithos stared at the floor. "…alright. I believe you." He frowned. "Dismissed."

Kratos stood there, his brain having not completely processed everything Mithos had said. "What?"

"You're dismissed," Mithos said in a long-suffering voice. With a flash he turned back into Yggdrasil. "I need to think."

"Alright." Kratos decided that nothing more could be squeezed from a meeting that had been awkward from the start. Turning around, he departed swiftly.

Yggdrasil let out a mixture between a sigh and a moan and placed two fingers on his temples before moving them in a circular pattern. "All these half-truths and lies, sister- they're paining me. My two friends: are they telling the truth? Ugh, sometimes I feel like the only one I can trust is you, and you can't even respond." Suddenly, his eyes turned cold. "But soon all that will be a thing of the past, and I will be able to show you your dream. I will be able to show you everything. And then we can see who holds the half-truths."

A beep emitted from some gadget in the room, and Yggdrasil paused in the middle of his monologue. "What is it?" he asked, drawling the question out.

The holo flickered, and a familiar blond visage filled the screen. "Lord Yggdrasil, I would like to inform you on the latest update on the Angelus Project."

Yggdrasil turned towards the sneering Cardinal. "You may proceed," he said. The Angelus Project- that trifling matter…He'd only allowed the newly-promoted Cardinal to do it over Forcystus because he wanted something _interesting_ to happen. Not completely listening, Yggdrasil nodded at what he hoped was the appropriate times.

"…we're nearing completion, my lord, and I was wondering if you wanted to observe the finished Cruxis Crystal yourself." Kvar said eagerly, voice dripping with the need for approval.

Yggdrasil considered his possible options. "We will see. Someone will arrive to oversee the completion; that I will assure you…"

* * *

How long ago that had seemed, and how unbearably…false of a dream it was. Now he was alone, truly and for eternity, and all because of that Angelus Project. The irony was killing him. Yggdrasil, raging silently in his chambers, mouthed what his red-haired teacher had once repeated endlessly to him as he smashed a fist into a wall.

_Trust me._

He snorted. "Yeah right."

A/N: I guess you could call this my "triumphant return" into the ToS section. I don't think I've posted anything here since "Tales of Star Wars", actually.

This is the edited, "pairing-less" version. Originally slated to turn out YggdrasilKratos (look, it just started going in that direction), I edited it when I realized that I wasn't in the proper mindset to truly write the pairing in. One day I'll do it. One day.


End file.
